WPA & New Deal
Museums & Libraries
Style: Spanish-Pueblo Revival
The Harwood Museum of Art
Image from nativeamericanencyclopedia.com
Constructed 1916
In 1937, UNM and the Works Projects Administration (WPA), working in cooperation to create an enhanced facility, embarked on a major expansion and renovation project of the Harwood complex. Designed by John Gaw Meem, one of the best known architects of the Southwest, the Harwood addition became one of the tallest adobe structures in northern New Mexico, and included an auditorium, stage, exhibition space, and a library facility.
Spanish Colonial Revival pieces in wood and tin were produced in vocational programs such as the New Deal's Taos Crafts smithing and furniture school. During 1937-38 Max Luna, Director of the program, and his students produced exemplary tin work chandeliers for the Harwood. They also created armarios (cabinets), bancos (benches) as well as mesas (tables) and sillas (chairs). Sixty years after their creation, they are still in use in the offices and galleries of the Harwood. The museum's collection includes about 40 wood carvings by Patrocino Barela, most of them done during his WPA activities. Additionally, the Harwood Museum received the Taos Public School Art Collection in 2012 including 18 New Deal public art pieces. -- Sources: "Public Art and Architecture in New Mexico 1933-1943" by Kathryn A. Flynn, and the Harwood Museum of Art website
238 Ledoux | Taos, NM 87571 | 505-758-3063
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mon: 10am-5pm | tue: 10am-5pm | wed: 10am-5pm | thu: 10am-5pm | fri: 10am-5pm | sat: 10am-5pm | sun: 12-5pm
